PGT for structural chromosomal rearrangements in 300 couples reveals specific risk factors but an interchromosomal effect is unlikely.

RESEARCH QUESTION: What factors affect the proportion of chromosomally balanced embryos in structural rearrangement carriers? Is there any evidence for an interchromosomal effect (ICE)? DESIGN: Preimplantation genetic testing outcomes of 300 couples (198 reciprocal, 60 Robertsonian, 31 inversion and 11 complex structural rearrangement carriers) were assessed retrospectively. Blastocysts were analysed either by array-comparative genomic hybridization or next-generation sequencing techniques. ICE was investigated using a matched control group and sophisticated statistical measurement of effect size (φ). RESULTS: 300 couples underwent 443 cycles; 1835 embryos were analysed and 23.8% were diagnosed as both normal/balanced and euploid. The overall cumulative clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were 69.5% and 55.8%, respectively. Complex translocations and female age (≥35) were found to be risk factors associated with lower chance of having a transferable embryo (P < 0.001). Based on analysis of 5237 embryos, the cumulative de-novo aneuploidy rate was lower in carriers compared to controls (45.6% versus 53.4%, P < 0.001) but this was a 'negligible' association (φ < 0.1). A further assessment of 117,033 chromosomal pairs revealed a higher individual chromosome error rate in embryos of carriers compared to controls (5.3% versus 4.9%), which was also a 'negligible' association (φ < 0.1), despite a P-value of 0.007. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that rearrangement type, female age and sex of the carrier have significant impacts on the proportion of transferable embryos. Careful examination of structural rearrangement carriers and controls indicated little or no evidence for an ICE. This study helps to provide a statistical model for investigating ICE and an improved personalized reproductive genetics assessment for structural rearrangement carriers.

High rates of aneuploidy, mosaicism and abnormal morphokinetic development in cases with low sperm concentration.

PURPOSE: The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of severe male infertility (SMF) on the chromosomal status of embryos and any possible correlation between chromosomal status and embryo morphokinetics in younger women using data obtained from comprehensive preimplantation genetic tests. METHODS: The trial was conducted in an ART and Reproductive Genetics Centre between 2011 and 2018. A total of 326 cycles in cases with SMF where the female partner's age was ≤ 35 years were evaluated. SMF is defined as sperm concentration below 5 mil/ml (million per milliliter) and divided into three subgroups according to sperm concentrations: 1-5 mil/ml, < 1mil/ml and testicular sperm. The control group of 190 cycles had normal sperm parameters. RESULTS: Significantly lower chromosomal euploidy rates were found in the testicular sperm group compared with the normal sperm controls when the female age was ≤ 35 years. In SMF, statistically significantly affected chromosomes were 2, 10, 11, 17, 21 and sex chromosomes. The mosaicism and abnormal morphokinetic development rates were higher in the SMF group than in control group, and this difference was significant when testicular sperm was used. CONCLUSION: Lower euploidy rates, higher mosaicism rates and a higher incidence of abnormal morphokinetic development were observed in cases with testicular sperm with female partners ≤ 35 years compared with normal sperm controls. These findings suggest that PGT-A may be advisable in severe male infertility cases. Furthermore, the correlation between morphokinetics and chromosomal status was greatly reduced or absent in these most severe forms of male infertility, thus the need for new morphokinetic models.

Is there a correlation between follicle size and gene expression in cumulus cells and is gene expression an indicator of embryo development?

BACKGROUND: In an article published in 2017, we discussed the results of the first part of our study into the morphokinetic development of embryos in relation to follicle diameter and homogeneity of follicular development. Our findings showed that embryos coming from small follicles in heterogeneous cycles had significantly higher rates of arrest or failure to reach blastocyst than embryos coming from large follicles in homogenous cycles. The aim of this further study was to investigate the relationship between follicular size and gene expression of cumulus cells (CCs) and evaluate whether gene expression could be an indicator of embryo development. METHODS: This study was based on 2495 COCs from 184 patients. CC expressions of five genes (TNFAIP6, PTGS2, HAS2, PTX3 and GDF9) were studied by generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) regarding follicular size. CC expressions were then separately analysed regarding patient-specific variables (age, BMI, AMH and follicular size) in relation to embryos reaching blastocyst (eRB) or top or good quality blastocysts (TQ + GQ) using GLMMs with logit link. RESULTS: Follicular size significantly correlated with the potential of an oocyte to develop into a blastocyst: oocytes developing from large follicles were more than twice as likely to develop into an eRB than oocytes from small follicles (p < 0.001). Gene expression of HAS2 and GDF9 correlated with blastocyst quality when separately evaluated with follicular size and the patient specific variables of age, BMI and AMH. However, no such correlation was found in other gene expressions studied. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that differences in the expression of genes studied could be related to follicular size rather than to embryo quality. Although gene expression of HAS2 and GDF9 correlated with blastocyst quality, the only variable correlating with eRB and TQ and GQ blastocysts for each of these five models was follicular size. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This prospective cohort study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02230449).

Determination of Pb(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), and Co(II) ions by flame atomic absorption spectrometry in food and water samples after preconcentration by coprecipitation with Mo(VI)-diethyldithiocarbamate.

A new, simple, and rapid separation and preconcentration procedure, for determination of Pb(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), and Co(II) ions in environmental real samples, has been developed. The method is based on the combination of coprecipitation of analyte ions by the aid of the Mo(VI)-diethyldithiocarbamate-(Mo(VI)-DDTC) precipitate and flame atomic absorption spectrometric determinations. The effects of experimental conditions like pH of the aqueous solution, amounts of DDTC and Mo(VI), standing time, centrifugation rate and time, sample volume, etc. and also the influences of some foreign ions were investigated in detail on the quantitative recoveries of the analyte ions. The preconcentration factors were found to be 150 for Pb(II), Zn(II) and Co(II), and 200 for Cd(II) ions. The detection limits were in the range of 0.1-2.2 µg L(-1) while the relative standard deviations were found to be lower than 5 % for the studied analyte ions. The accuracy of the method was checked by spiked/recovery tests and the analysis of certified reference material (CRM TMDW-500 Drinking Water). The procedure was successfully applied to seawater and stream water as liquid samples and baby food and dried eggplant as solid samples in order to determine the levels of Pb(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), and Co(II) ions.

Biosorption properties of Morus alba L. for Cd (II) ions removal from aqueous solutions.

The abundantly available industrial waste product Morus alba L. pomace (MAP) is one of the cost-effective biosorbent for removal of metal ions from aqueous solutions. Hence, in the present study, we aimed to test the ability of MAP to remove Cd(II) ions through batch biosorption process. Firstly, MAP was characterized using several techniques, and then the influence of various experimental parameters such as initial pH of the aqueous solution, initial Cd(II) concentration, contact time, MAP concentration, and temperature were evaluated upon the biosorption process. It was found that the maximum uptake of Cd(II) ions occurred at initial pH 6.0 and optimum contact time was observed as 60 min. Cd(II) ions adsorption on MAP analyzed by the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models and the maximum monolayer biosorption capacity of MAP was found to be 21.69 mg g(-1) by using the Langmuir isotherm model. The pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Elovich, and intraparticle diffusion models were employed to describe the biosorption kinetics. In order to investigate the thermodynamic properties of the biosorption process, the changes in the Gibbs free energy (∆G), enthalpy (∆H), and entropy (∆S) were also evaluated and it has been concluded that the process was feasible, spontaneous, and endothermic in the temperature range of 5-40 °C.

Cloud-point extraction of rhodamine 6G by using Triton X-100 as the non-ionic surfactant.

Cloud-point extraction (CPE) using the non-ionic surfactant Triton X-100 was used successfully to remove a highly toxic dye, rhodamine 6G (R6G), from water and wastewater. The effects of different analytical parameters such as pH, concentration of Triton X-100 (TX-100) and salts, equilibrium temperature, and incubation time on the efficiency of the extraction of R6G were studied in detail, and optimum conditions for dye extraction were obtained. Thermodynamic parameters including changes in Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, and entropy were also calculated, and these parameters indicated that the CPE of R6G was feasible, spontaneous, and endothermic in the temperature range of 75-95 degrees C. The equilibrium solubilization capacity of TX-100 was found to be 1.10 mmol/mol by using Langmuir isotherm models. No significant interference effects were observed in the presence of phenol and its derivatives, some acidic and basic dyes and most of the anions and cations. It was concluded that the CPE process described in this paper can be an alternative technique for removal of dyes and other pollutants from waters and wastewaters.

Preconcentration, separation and spectrophotometric determination of aluminium(III) in water samples and dialysis concentrates at trace levels with 8-hydroxyquinoline-cobalt(II) coprecipitation system.

A separation-preconcentration procedure was developed for the determination of trace amounts of aluminium in water samples and dialysis concentrates by UV-vis Spectrophotometry after coprecipitation using 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) as a chelating agent and Co(II) as a carrier element. This procedure is based on filtration of the solution containing precipitate on a cellulose nitrate membrane filter following aluminium(III) coprecipitation with Co/8-HQ and then the precipitates together with membrane filter were dissolved in concentrated nitric acid. The metal contents of the final solution were determined by UV-vis Spectrophotometry with Erio Chrome Cyanine-R standard method. Several parameters including pH of sample solution, amount of carrier element and reagent, standing time, sample volume for precipitation and the effects of diverse ions were examined. The enrichment factor was calculated as 50 and the detection limits, corresponding to three times the standard deviation of the blank (N: 10), was found to be 0.2 microg L(-1). The accuracy of the method was tested with standard reference material (CRM-TMDW-500) and spiked addition. Determination of aluminium(III) was carried out in sea water, river water, tap water and haemodialysis fluids samples. The recoveries were >95%. The relative standard deviations of determination were less than 6%.

Assessment of water quality parameters in the stream Galyan, Trabzon, Turkey.

This paper presents a comprehensive evaluation of drinking water quality from the stream Galyan and its tributary, the stream Kustul, in Trabzon Province, Turkey. In this study, surface water quality data for 20 physical and chemical parameters were determined and collected from three monitoring stations of the understudy stream during April 2004 to March 2005. According to the Turkish Water Pollution Control Regulation, the stream Galyan water was classified, and the studied parameters were evaluated for the values proposed by Turkish Standard (TS) 266 and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. The results showed that TS 266 and WHO guidelines were exceeded for Fe (up to 860 microg/l) and Cr (up to 134.7 microg/l). Pearson's correlation was also used to determine the relationship of the studied parameters and as a result significant correlations were observed between some parameters.

Simultaneous preconcentration of Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), and Cd(II) from environmental samples on Amberlite XAD-2000 column and determination by FAAS.

A new method for the preconcentration of some trace metals (Co, Ni, Cu, and Cd) as complexed with ammonium pyrrolidynedithiocarbamate (APDC) was developed using a mini-column filled with Amberlite XAD-2000 resin. Metal contents were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) after the metal complexes accumulated on the resin were eluted with 1M HNO(3) in acetone. The effects of the analytical parameters such as sample pH, quantity of complexing agent, eluent type, resin quantity, sample volume, sample flow rate, and matrix ions were investigated on the recovery of the metals from aqueous solutions. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) of the method was <6%. The validation of the method was confirmed using two certified reference materials (CRM TMDW-500 Drinking Water and CRM SA-C Sandy Soil C). The method was successfully applied to some stream waters and mushroom samples from Eastern Black Sea Region (Trabzon city) of Turkey.

Separation and enrichment of gold(III) from environmental samples prior to its flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination.

A simple and accurate method was developed for separation and enrichment of trace levels of gold in environmental samples. The method is based on the adsorption of Au(III)-diethyldithiocarbamate complex on Amberlite XAD-2000 resin prior to the analysis of gold by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after elution with 1 molL(-1) HNO3 in acetone. Some parameters including nitric acid concentration, eluent type, matrix ions, sample volume, sample flow rate and adsorption capacity were investigated on the recovery of gold(III). The recovery values for gold(III) and detection limit of gold were greater than 95% and 16.6 microgL(-1), respectively. The preconcentration factor was 200. The relative standard deviation of the method was <6%. The adsorption capacity of the resin was 12.3 mg g(-1). The validation of the presented procedure was checked by the analysis of CRM-SA-C Sandy Soil certified reference material. The presented procedure was applied to the determination of gold in some environmental samples.

A multi-element solid-phase extraction method for trace metals determination in environmental samples on Amberlite XAD-2000.

A method for the preconcentration of some transition elements at trace level was proposed using a column filled with Amberlite XAD-2000 resin. Metal ions were adsorbed on XAD-2000 as their diethyldithiocarbamate chelates, then analytes retained on the resin were eluted by 1 mol L(-1) nitric acid in acetone and determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The influences of some analytical parameters including pH of sample solution, ligand amount, the type, concentration and volume of elution solution, flow rates of the sample and eluent solutions, adsorption capacity of the resin and sample volume on the preconcentration efficiency have been investigated. The influences of some matrix elements were also examined. The detection limit (N=20, 3 sigma) for Mn(II), Fe(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), Pb(II) and Ni(II) were found as 0.20, 0.35, 0.25, 0.20, 0.20, 0.15, 0.45 and 0.25 microg L(-1), respectively. The validation of the procedure was carried out by analysis of certified reference materials. The proposed method was applied to natural waters and kale vegetable (Brassica oleracea var. acephala).

Solid-phase extraction of Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions from environmental samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS).

A new method using a column packed with Amberlite XAD-2010 resin as a solid-phase extractant has been developed for the multi-element preconcentration of Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Cd(II), and Pb(II) ions based on their complex formation with the sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (Na-DDTC) prior to flame atomic absorption spectrometric (FAAS) determinations. Metal complexes sorbed on the resin were eluted by 1 mol L(-1) HNO3 in acetone. Effects of the analytical conditions over the preconcentration yields of the metal ions, such as pH, quantity of Na-DDTC, eluent type, sample volume and flow rate, foreign ions etc. have been investigated. The limits of detection (LOD) of the analytes were found in the range 0.08-0.26 microg L(-1). The method was validated by analyzing three certified reference materials. The method has been applied for the determination of trace elements in some environmental samples.

Environmental impact of the marine aquaculture in Güllük Bay, Turkey.

The effects of marine aquaculture on the environment were evaluated by studying the water quality of Güllük Bay (Turkey). Marine aquaculture, both extensive and intensive, is one of the most important activities carried out in this area. The intensive culture of fish (Dicentrarchus labrax) is the most important polluting element in Güllük Bay. Records of long term (seasonally) monitoring of the ambient water dissolved oxygen concentration, the inorganic nutrients (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and phosphate) and chlorophyll a concentrations were generated to assess sea water quality of Güllük Bay. Surface water (0.5 m) samples were collected from seven fish farm areas in the cage of Güllük Bay (here after reported as the cage stations). Reference surface water was also concurrently sampled at three stations. Modifications in the cage stations water quality were assessed as the difference between the magnitude of a specific parameter recorded at cage station and the concurrently recorded value of the parameter at the reference station, relative to the mean value at the reference station. In this study, results in the specific modifications are discussed at the study period. An aquaculture area had consistently positive modifications in phosphate concentration, but not in nitrogen or chlorophyll a concentrations. Chlorophyll a concentrations showed non positive modifications only in June. In addition to these site specific modifications nitrogen concentrations were positively modified in August and October.

Spectrophotometric determination of copper in pharmaceutical and biological samples with 3-[2-[2-(2-hydroxyimino-1-methyl-propylideneamino)-(ethylamino]-ethyl-imino]-butan-2-one oxime).

3-[2-[2-(2-hydroxyimino-1-methyl-propylideneamino)-ethylamino]-ethyl-imino]-butan-2-one oxime, (H(2)mdo) reacts with copper(II) to form a highly stable 1:1 complex in alkaline medium at room temperature. The complex gives a maximum absorption at 570 nm with a molar absorptivity coefficient of 0.16 x 10(4) l mol(-1) cm(-1). A spectrophotometric method using this ligand was developed and optimized in terms of pH, stability of the complex, amount of reagent required, sensitivity, linearity and tolerance limits of various foreign ions. The linear range for copper determination is 0.2-225 mg l(-1). The method is sensitive, accurate and tolerant to many foreign substances, and, all the reagents used are stable under the conditions. Moreover, the method is easy to perform for the determination of copper in pharmaceutical and biological samples.